Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Australia has been one of the countries to close its borders, and prevent foreign travel.

Recently it announced a travel corridor with New Zealand that meant people living in the two countries could travel freely without the need to quarantine for two weeks upon arrival in either destination.

New Zealand this week has paused quarantine free travel with Australia’s New South Wales due to new COVID-19 outbreaks in Sydney.

While the travel corridor between New Zealand and Australia is under review, it’s been revealed that other countries may not have safe travel passage until 2022 without a mandatory two-week quarantine period.

This news came from the Australian Finance Minister, Simon Birmingham who feels it’s possible the country’s borders might not open until late 2022, explaining that this is due to the uncertainty of vaccine rollouts and new outbreaks around the world.

According to news.com.au. Simon Birmingham gave a statement saying: “We recognize that if Australians want to be kept safe and secure … and given uncertainties that exist not just in the speed of the vaccine rollout but also the extent of its effectiveness to different variants of COVID, the duration of its longevity and effectiveness, these are all considerations that mean we won’t be seeing borders flung open at the start of next year with great ease.”

He then continued: “The ferocity of recent COVID outbreaks, the uncertainty in many countries around vaccine rollouts, all create an environment in which, although Australia’s enjoying very high levels of business and consumer confidence, there’s a fragility that underpins all of that.”

Although the opinions of the Australian Finance Minister are pessimistic, the country’s Prime Minister, Scott Morrison has other ideas. Scott Morrison is hopeful for the possibility that vaccinated Australians could travel abroad without the need to quarantine when they return.

News.com.au reported that Scott Morrison said: “This is what I’ve tasked the medical experts with, is ensuring that we can know when an Australian is vaccinated here with their two doses, is able to travel overseas and return without having to go through hotel quarantine,” Morrison told a radio station in April. “I think we’re still some time away from that… But what we need to know from the health advisers is what does make that safe and what does make that possible.”

According to Reuters, Australia has to date, administered over 2.3 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines. That would be about 4.7% of the population, assuming each person needs two doses.

Australia and New Zealand aren’t alone in exploring a travel bubble with other destinations. Later this month, Hong Kong and Singapore plan to open up quarantine-free travel between the two cities. Each has also expressed interest in arranging something similar with Australia.